In Another Life
by Under A Cloud
Summary: Perhaps in another life they would be free, her from the pain and suffering she never deserved, him to confess his feelings which he never had the chance to. He never believed in God but for her he would pray, that they would meet again in another life. (IchimaruxMatsumoto tribute, Episode 308 spoiler)


Truthfully, I haven't read/watched Bleach for a long while and I only looked up the scene where Gin died after reading a spoiler. While I don't trust my own portrayal of a complex character like Gin and even Rangiku (it's been long, so long), I felt the urge to write something. There was something pushing and spurring me on, I needed to write this. Rangiku shouldn't be OOC since this is from Gin's POV, but if Gin is OOC… well, forgive me.

My top OTP MatsumotoxIchimaru, alas I wrote something for them.

Summary: Perhaps in another life they would be free, her from the pain and suffering she never deserved, him to confess his feelings which he never had the chance to. He never believed in God but for her he would pray, that they would meet again in another life. (IchimaruxMatsumoto tribute, Episode 308 spoiler)

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, because if I did… I still wouldn't change anything actually, haha.

**In Another Life**

_Squelch._

It was a gruesome sound. There was a fleeting white light and he was engulfed, then he sensed a malicious presence materialising before him, followed by the unmistakable gleam of a blade – and finally, a sharp pain resonated throughout his body, signifying that he has sustained injury. Everything occurred in a blink of an eye. Not that he blinked, of course, it was just an idiom; a contemporary saying the humans made up. When he came back to his senses and glanced down at his chest, blood was already gushing out of the wound. The thick red liquid is still suspended in mid-air; languidly dancing like a ribbon twirling in the wind.

_About 15 inch long and 2 inch deep_, Gin estimates his wound as he watches Aizen through clear cerulean-coloured eyes, _it isn't fatal yet_.

Already he is thinking about how to survive this ordeal. Before Aizen lies dead before him, or before someone who could take on the job of killing Aizen emerges, he would not give up. After all, he has yet to retrieve what Rangiku lost to this mad soul.

**~x~**

"_Gin, your eyes… they are like gemstones. You have such beautiful eyes you know?"_

**~x~**

Surprising enough, he feels calmer now that Aizen had initiated an attack. Pain has always been his best remedy for dissonance.

Gin listens as Aizen explains his grandiose scheme – if he survives, this information would be valuable tipoff. After Aizen's whole storytelling Gin concludes humourlessly, _this deranged being must be thinking that he's doing him a merciful favour by filling in the gaps in his knowledge. _

Indignant, he reaches out a hand towards the Hogyoku. That thing is what imprisons Rangiku's soul fragment, he has to get it back – and Aizen rips his whole arm off without hesitation. Gin is stunned for a moment but he soon reins himself in when he saw the smile on Aizen's lips. He chides himself for his naivety, and refuses to give the enemy the satisfaction of victory.

Then Aizen catches him by surprise and pierces him again, this time staking his heart and conveniently breaking his spine.

_Thwack._

With that sickening sound, Gin's body folds. He is unable to support his upper body further, and he knows that his spine is shattered. _Ugh._ Involuntarily, he spits out the mouthful of blood rising in his oesophagus and nearly spilling over to his windpipe, and he realises that his body has stopped feeling pain altogether.

**~x~**

"_Gin… promise me that you would stop getting yourself injured all the time, alright?"_

**~x~**

His organs are so badly damaged that they are beginning to shut down already. _That_ was a fatal blow. Gin would have grinned if he had the strength to; Aizen is truly a vengeful person. He is aware that he would never give up until the last moment, therefore he first waved a sliver of hope before his eyes, and waited until his hope had raised to an adequate level before crushing it again. _Because this demented man yearns to destroy his enemy both physically and mentally._

Aizen is probably still unsatisfied. While Gin tries his best to breathe, Aizen picks him up by the front of his coat and hurls him towards a building.

_Thud. Squelch. Thwack. _

Another couple of ribs broken, another round of injury to accelerate the rate at which life is drained from him.

Gin knows that he would not make it through this time, and he could not help the tiredness which is consuming him. He closes his eyes, 'feeling' how his sensory system begins to fail. _This accursed life he has led_… Gin thinks to himself, _he does not regret any of the choices he had made. _

Savouring what scarce time he stole from Death, Gin reminisces on his most precious moments – he smirks in his head; there is a common figure in all of those memories.

**~x~**

"_Gin! You're doing it again! You're hopeless!"_

**~x~**

Rangiku. She, in herself, is the world to him. He is never eloquent in expressing himself, but he knows his emotions very well. Gin never imagined that he would find someone like that before he met her; someone he would give up anything and everything to protect her smile and make her happy, someone he would put before himself and everything else.

"Gin!"

He hears a familiar voice, but he knows it is impossible. Now he is hearing voices in his head; Death must really be drawing near. Well… he likes this hallucination. At the very least, his final memory would be of her.

"_Gin!_" The voice hollers, and Gin snaps back to his senses.

He is not imagining things. She_ is_ here. Physically. He tries to open his mouth to speak, to tell her "Rangiku, I'm fine." But he could not.

Hot, scalding liquid rains down on his face – _how queer_, Gin thinks, did he not lose his sense of touch?

He struggles to open his eyes, desperate to coax her – _hush_, do not shed tears, not for anyone, especially not for him.

_But he could not. _

** ~x~ **

"_Gin, Gin! Really, wait for me!"_

**~x~**

Oh. Ichigo has arrived. Gin notices when he finally manages to crack open his eyes, and he is gladdened by what his sees.

He sees a man, rather than a boy.

_He should be able to put an end to this whole nonsense,_ Gin muses as his eyelids fall over again; he is unable to lift his head to look into Rangiku's eyes… the light is so blinding it is ironic in a fake world created by a vile being.

**~x~**

"_That bad habit you had of always disappearing without telling me where you are going...still hasn't changed."_

**~x~**

Indeed, he is guilty of his conviction. He probably will never be able to serve his sentence though, but at the very least, he had properly apologised to her, and Ichigo… seems capable of taking on Aizen.

With a huge stone lifted off his chest, Gin feels the last bit of his vitality seeping out from him along with the sparse blood still oozing out of his wound.

He will soon stop bleeding, and when that happens… it would be the end of him, too.

The last sound he hears is Rangiku's choked sobs; it is a shame, he would have preferred to depart with her laughter sending him off.

Perhaps in another life they would be free, her from the pain and suffering she never deserved, him to confess his feelings which he never had the chance to. He never believed in God but for her he would pray, that they would meet again in another life.

Humans go to Soul Society when they die, but where do dead souls head to? Actually…

_Does there exist a place for them after the afterlife?_

He would find out soon, but _somehow_, Gin dreads the answer.

* * *

I'd really love to hear your feedback regarding this because I don't usually do tragedies. When I do… It's something special to me, and I want to know what you think about it. Thank you for reading to the end. Somehow... it became more of a Gin introspective piece, didn't it?


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